


Game over, insert coin?

by Wystie_booties, yalejosie



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: DDDR, Fluff, Gen, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Poor Crowley, ace relationship, arcade date, unestablished relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 00:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20826617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wystie_booties/pseuds/Wystie_booties, https://archiveofourown.org/users/yalejosie/pseuds/yalejosie
Summary: Aziraphale has never been to an arcade before. It’s never been in his list of interests. Crowley is about to change that.





	Game over, insert coin?

**Author's Note:**

> Made this with my mate Yj, hope ya like it. Happy readings

If scientists closely studied the behaviors of the ducks that resided in St. James park, they would find that they were peculiar enough for the ducks to be declared as a separate species. For example, if brought into a sparse lab with a person in all white and a person in a tartan suit, all the ducks would flock towards the tartan. This very unusual behavior owed itself to the dressing habits of a very generous angel. You see, the ducks in St. James park had received much bread from Aziraphale over 200 years, to the point that when ducks spotted him sitting on his regular bench, it was practically a Pavlovian response for them to hightail it to where the angel was sitting. 

On a particularly sunny day, the ducks waddled over to the aforementioned bench, where that certain angel and his demon were sitting. Despite the hot weather, Crowley was still dressed in his leather jacket, and Aziraphale was still dressed in his signature outfit. Aziraphale carefully tossed pieces of fresh bread to the happy ducks below as he absentmindedly chatted with Crowley. 

“Ya know, Angel. You think these ducks have ears?” Crowley said, gesturing to the ducks happily feeding below.

Aziraphale scrunched his face in befuddlement, “All birds have ears. Part of the design after all, my dear.” 

“You can't see ‘em. The ears. Just think about it. All the stuff they gotta hear all day. All the gossip. They're probably stuffed with secrets.” 

The angel gave a small bemused glance towards Crowley.

Crowley continued, “If they really wanted to. And were just a bit more intellectual. They could rule the earth.” 

“What are you implying?”

"Just a little brain teaser, angel.” 

Aziraphale harrumphed, “Well, ducks never are and never will “rule the world.” Earth was made for humans after all.” 

“Yeah. Yeah. Ineffable plan. All that, I was there. But just think, the potentiality of ducks ruling over earth instead of humans.” 

“How on Earth do you ever come up with these silly ideas?” 

Crowley shrugged in response, sniffed as if to glaze over that entire interaction in a cool, effortless way. They then sat in respectable silence until Aziraphale finally spoke. 

“Do you ever think about the Them?” 

“The who?” 

“Adam and the rest. Warlock even.” 

“Sometimes. They’re probably doing whatever kids do. Arcades, endless dangerous things, asking too many questions, getting in trouble.” Crowley smiled at the last addition. 

“What's an arcade?” 

The demon raised an eyebrow to that remark. He shifted his entire weight to the right side of his body to face his clueless angel. Teasingly, but sweetly he asked, “Don’t know what an arcade is, angel?” 

“You know I can't keep up with all the humans create.” 

“How about it then. Would you like to go? It’s rather good fun.” 

Aziraphale smiled, his fingers curled in excitement as he wiggled and smiled. 

“Sounds delightful.” 

\---

At first, Crowley thought about taking Aziraphale to an arcade in London. However, upon further thought, he decided against it. An arcade in London was a recipe for disaster. Long lines, pushy people, way too many kids. Honestly, not even a demon had enough malice to invent those certain games that only existed for the purpose of getting tickets. Albeit Crowley totally took advantage of it and sent back a memo to the head office of another low grade evil job well done. 

Eventually, the demon settled on Tadfield. Adam (subconsciously) insuring the small town remained idyllic meant that the local arcade there would be a perfect fit. As a bonus, there might be a chance that the Them could be there. It would be nice to see Adam and his friends again. Aziraphale seemed delighted with the idea, so he and Crowley set out for Tadfield in the Bentley. As the countryside whizzed past, Aziraphale wondered what was in store for him.

\----

The Them entered the arcade with excited springs in their steps. The arcade flashed with a multitude of colors, kids laughing and yelling in every corner of the place. It looked like an arcade lifted out of an 80's movie, what an arcade was supposed to look like. There weren't any games in there that were created after the 90's. Everytime the owner of the place tried to install a newer game, it was inexplicably unplayed and thus removed.

Adam was in the middle of a round of Street Fighter, losing miserably to Pepper, when he saw the most unlikely duo enter the arcade. Aziraphale, looking around as if he had never entered an arcade before (he hadn't, of course), and Crowley, trailing behind his angel, enjoying the excitement emanating off of him in waves.

Wensleydale worriedly shook Adam’s shoulder. “Isn’t that the man who tried to kill you?”

A loud guffaw then ruptured from Pepper’s side, “That’s the sixth win now! 6-2. Just give it up Adam, I reign supreme in Street fighter.” 

Adam groaned. He had only been distracted for a split second, but Pepper was merciless. 

As Adam mourned his loss, he saw Crowley lead Aziraphale to one of the machines. It was one of those claw machines, and obviously rigged to steal all your money. Aziraphale had the look one would make when seeing an especially cute puppy when he spied a small, bean filled snake plushie in the machine. 

“Pick anyone you’d like, angel. I’ll get it for you. Devil’s luck.” 

He winked. Not like Aziraphale could see since the demon was wearing his sunglasses, but the attempt was there.

Aziraphale felt his cheeks flush. The angel's eyes melted into a look of overdone desperation as he stared through Crowley. His eyebrows raised expectantly. 

He pursed his lips then cleared his throat, “The uhm, snake will do quite nicely, thank you.” 

The thought of saying no hadn't even crossed Crowley's mind in the slightest before Aziraphale's signature kicked puppy look, but Crowley had been utterly defeated anyway. He sighed and miracled the claw machine to firmly grab the snake and deposit it into the hole where won plushies landed. Crowley bent down, picked up the snake with one hand, and then gingerly handed it to a very pleased Aziraphale. 

Brian then ran up to them, “Whoa! How’d you do that?! I tried working that stupid thing 100 times and it never gave me nothing!” 

Crowley smirked and replied, “Amatuer.” 

Aziraphale shot a disapproving stare at Crowley. He then turned back to face the boy and pleasantly smiled. 

“Pick anyone you’d like, this man over here will help you get it.” 

“Wait a moment-!” 

“After all, you wouldn’t want to let me and this young man down, would you?”

Crowley could care less about this random kid, but he did care an awful lot about his angel. He groaned and sighed, muttering unintelligible sounds. 

Brian got a good look at the machine, and decided he wanted a particularly big teddy that was buried at the bottom of the pile. 

“Of course it’s at the bottom of the pile” Crowley muttered. 

The demon snapped his fingers, and the crane in the machine pulled off some frankly impossible maneuvers to retrieve the bear. The crane then dropped the bear into the prize hole in the same way it had dropped the snake. Crowley, however, had no intention of picking up the bear himself, so Brian knelt down and picked up the bear, hugging it tightly to his chest. He then promptly ran back to his gang. Aziraphale’s eyes tracked Brian and was pleasantly delighted to spot the rest of the Them. 

“Crowley, look! We should go say hello.” He gently tugged on Crowley’s arm, nudging his head to the direction of three other children. Crowley groaned in a dramatic flair as he leaned back in dismay. 

“Say hello? What are we even supposed to say?! Oh hello, children. Remember us? Ah yes, especially you Adam, we tried to kill you! Remember when it was the end of the world and we all almost died, though? Such jolly, good times.” 

He then turned his head to stare at Aziraphale, trying to make him back down. Not like Aziraphale would anyway. He only returned a disapproving glare. Crowley’s resolve broke. Aziraphale took the first step towards the group, and Crowley followed suit. 

“All I'm saying is that since we are in their territory, there is a certain etiquette we should maintain for diplomacy.” 

“They're kids.” 

Aziraphale pursed his lips, “My point is, it doesn't hurt to just say hello.” 

Crowley thought that when Aziraphale pursed his lips, or pouted even, he was quite certainly adorable. He was especially adorable whenever he seemed to be even slightly mad. Crowley would never admit so. They arrived bickering in front of the Them, and there was an awkward silence before finally Adam spoke first. 

“You know how to play Street Fighter, mister?” 

These were the famous last words before the beginning of one of the most intense rounds of Street Fighter ever witnessed in the small arcade, and maybe even England. (You couldn’t beat Americans when it came to Street Fighter, or video games in general, though, so we are sticking with England.) Crowley gave a wide, devilish smile and walked up to the machine, Aziraphale giving an encouraging smile. Adam stepped up as well, the Them ogling at him with wonder that anyone who had the gall to go up against an  _ adult _ utterly deserved. 

Adam chose Ryu, and Crowley chose Ken Masters. They both gave each other a cocky side eye as the game counted down to the beginning of the match. When the timer went off, there was an uproar from both the players and the bystanders. Adam knew this machine well enough after many lost matches against Pepper, but Crowley had been playing Street Fighter since it came out. Still, it was a close game, and the Them cheered for their champion. Even Aziraphale, usually a little reserved in manners such as this, got caught up in the excitement, cheering for Crowley as he fought on. 

“C'mon, Crowley! You wily old serpent! You got this!”

Crowley was caught off guard by the small cheer from Aziraphale, and that split second of surprise gave Adam his opening. He brutally smacked down Crowley’s character, and the fatality screen showed up. The Them practically lifted Adam off the ground in victorious hugs while cheering, while Aziraphale gave Crowley a conciliatory pat on the back.

“I think you did marvelously.” 

Crowley let out a curt, raspy chuckle, “Beginner’s luck that was. Shall we move on, angel?” 

“Oh-!” The angel took a glance towards the Them who were still praising their champion. He then looked back to Crowley. 

“There's still more I want to show you.” He smiled, seductively.

Aziraphale bashfully smiled back, “Lead the way, old boy.” 

\---

Crowley took his hand and led him away from the squealing children to a machine set in the corner of the arcade. It displayed the words, “Dance Dance Revolution” in a neon colored 80’s font. 

There were two sets of arrows, and the demon and angel stepped onto the platform to their respective set. 

“Crowley, what is this?” 

“Oh you're gonna love this, angel.” 

The macho male voice declared the different levels of difficulty the game had to offer, along with a different level of voice accompanying each level. It announced, “Easy” in a relatively regular voice, “Medium” in a louder but still tolerable voice, and “Hard” in a voice that would shatter any human’s ears. 

“Let’s try hard mode!” Aziraphale exclaimed excitedly. His eyes twinkled. 

“You sure about that, angel? This game is quite intense, and I'll have you know I've been playing it since its release.” 

“I'll have you know that I've won my own fair share of dance competitions.”

“Right. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

Crowley and Aziraphale both selected hard mode, and then let the machine randomly select the song. Then the dancing began.

If a human who had been alive in the 1800’s had been present in the arcade at the time, they would’ve correctly identified the dance Aziraphale was doing as the gavotte. However, there was no human present born before the 1950’s, let alone the 1800’s, so to the unobserving eye it looked like Aziraphale was performing a set of kicks as he competed in Dance Dance Revolution. 

Crowley, on the other hand, was moving with the rhythm on the screen in a style of dance that looked like someone trying very hard to disco, but wasn’t quite getting it. The Them had come over to watch the match, and all were failing to conceal their laughter at the dance moves of the angel and demon. 

Soon, the song was close to being over, and Aziraphale was reaching the end of the gavotte. The end of the gavotte is what gives it its other name: The Kissing Dance. The person dancing gives their partner a kiss on the cheek during the final step of the dance, which is exactly what Aziraphale did. 

Aziraphale slowed down, to the protests of the machine, and leaned over to plant a kiss on Crowley’s cheek. The demon, not expecting a kiss in the slightest, turned beet red and was totally thrown off his beat. The Them swore they saw a bit of smoke rise and curl in the air as Crowley’s brain attempted to reboot. 

The song ended, and Aziraphale smiled victoriously, totally oblivious to the fact he had nearly caused his demon to faint. Then, like a Bentley driving through the middle of London at 90 miles per hour, what he had done hit him. Aziraphale turned redder than Crowley did, and hid his face in his hands as the machine asked if the players wanted to play again. The Them looked on with the general disinterest children have for the romantic affairs of adults. 

Aziraphale blubbered an incomprehensible mumble of pardons and oh goodnesses as it then finally settled into an awkward silence. The two supernatural beings faced each other, not quite daring to break the silence. 

The duo both blushed due to deeply repressed emotions they had never had the opportunity to express while they had been watched over by their head offices. But now, as Heaven and Hell were out of the picture, and as they were on their own side, Aziraphale and Crowley  _ really _ needed to talk about those emotions they had done a bang up job at shoving down. But now was not a good time to do that, so blushing would have to do. 

Crowley cleared his throat, and in a voice that betrayed him, his voice cracked as he spoke, 

“You won.” 

“Please forget that ever happened,” Aziraphale fretted, face still hidden by his hands. 

“I- uhm-,” Crowley thickly swallowed the saliva that gathered. 

He didn't want to forget, but he also didn't know how to respond, so they yet again fell in silence. Aziraphale broke the silence this time, “Shall we move on? I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself again.” 

“Right.” Crowley made several incomprehensible noises then stiffly got off the platform and walked to the next arcade game. 

\---

Really, Crowley just wandered aimlessly for a bit rather than find another game to play, because he needed time to assess what just happened. Aziraphale awkwardly trailed behind, equally unsure about what to do. As Crowley was doing his thinking, he ran into a machine. 

The demon cried out dramatically, rubbed his forehead, then read the big bold words. It read “PHOTO BOOTH!! REMEMBER YOUR SPECIAL TIMES. SAVE THE MOMENT FOREVER. 9 DIFFERENT FUN FILTERS.” 

He smirked, “Angel. Ever tried one of these?” 

Aziraphale eyed at the booth curiously, “Don't believe I have. They remind me of when cameras were first created. Had to be stiff and all. Couldn't smile.” 

“Well, these ones you can smile.” 

“How delightful!” 

“To commemorate your first time in an arcade, let's take a few photos, hm?” 

“Rightly so!” 

They stepped into the booth. 

“So uhm- how does this operate?” Aziraphale fretted. 

Crowley smiled. He flicked his fingers and a coin appeared. He inserted the coin into the machine and it flickered to life. 

“So what you want? Apparently there’s nine of ‘em, so.” 

Crowley tapped upon the button that allowed you to scroll through the options, “Let's see, there’s cute mode,” he grimaced, “Bunny ears, sepia, B&W, that's lingo for black and white-.” 

“I know what B&W is.” 

“Sure you do, angel. Sunglasses-.” 

“Oh that won't do, you’re already wearing sunglasses.” 

“Will ya let me finish,” Crowley spat. 

Aziraphale huffed. “Ooh, they got halos and horns. Perfect for us don't ya think?” 

“I thought you wanted me to let you finish.” 

Crowley made more unintelligible noises then cleared his throat and sniffed, “Changed my mind.” Aziraphale rolled his eyes. 

“Flower crowns, funhouse mirror, and uhm- hearts. Anyways, which one ya want to use?” 

“What's that?” Aziraphale asked.

“What's what?” Crowley replied.

“There’s a random mode.” Aziraphale said as he pointed to an extra mode on the screen.

“That's if you can't decide I'm guessing.” 

“Ooh,” Aziraphale eyes sparkled, “let's see what this old boy will whip up for us then.” 

Crowley suppressed a smile, “Whatever you’d like, Angel.” 

Aziraphale leaned over to the screen and pressed the "random" button, and sat down next to Crowley so he would be in the picture. The first picture used the sunglasses filter. Aziraphale laughed at the sight of double sunglasses on Crowley. The next picture used the flower crown filter. Crowley seemed to pout a bit when that filter came up, but he reluctantly lined up his head so it looked like a very pink flower crown was nestled among the hairs on his head. Next, an angel halo and demon horns filter came up. It would've been funny enough if it had matched up with the actual angel and demon in the booth, however it chose the opposites to apply the filter over. It resulted in a photo of Crowley with a bright white angel halo and Aziraphale with a pair of deep red demon horns. They both gasped in dismay. 

After that photo, it unexpectedly switched to a heart filter. Clearly designed for lovers, the hearts swirled around their heads in an array a young, lovesick couple would adore. All that could be seen when the photo came out were an angel and a demon whose faces were as red as the hearts that surrounded them. 

Crowley was the first to leave the booth, it was awfully warm in there, after all. Crouching down, he waited for the two sets of photos to spit out from the photo booth as he also waited for his face to cool off. Aziraphale eventually exited the booth as well, with his hands knotted together and fidgeting as he stared at his companion. Neither of them met eyes. After a solid minute, the photo booth finally loaded out the photos. Crowley handed one of them to Aziraphale. 

There was an awkward silence, then finally, “So uhm- dinner?” 

\---

After Aziraphale and Crowley said goodbye to the Them, they left the arcade and had an exceptionally awkward dinner at a nice local cafe. It was hard for the two to even make eye contact without blushing a bit. Then, on the way back to Aziraphale’s bookshop, the demon and angel stopped at St. James park. 

The air outside around St. James park was brisk, and slightly damp, rain clouds rolled their way in for tomorrow’s shower. The pair walked in synchronised steps, a habit long established, and their shadows danced on the river's reflection. Crowley could slightly see his own breath leave from his body and waft away. The park was quiet, a leaf crunched underneath his step and he winced.

“Angel.”

“Hm?” 

Crowley had many questions to pester Aziraphale, about their relationship now growing in a sort of new evolution, their past where they interacted between the twilight, their unsteady future, but a heavy tongue burdened his words, instead he chose a dull icebreaker, “What'd you think of the arcade?” 

Aziraphale lit up from the choice of topic, he lit up the most around Crowley. “Oh, it was quite marvelous! We were able to see Adam and the Them again and well, uhm, the dancing! Although the end was horrifically embarrassing, it was still good fun.” 

Crowley hummed in recognition of the answer. His lips upturned. The gravel scratched their shoes filling their ears, along with the occasional flap of a startled bird’s wings in the water. 

“This was your first time, right? For the arcade, I mean.” 

“Well, yes.” 

“We’ve done an awful lot of things together, you and me, hm?” 

Aziraphale took the chance to glance and analyse Crowley, it had been 6000 years and he still couldn't quite figure him out. Not knowing where the conversation was going, he responded anyways, “for 6000 years now, my dear boy.” 

“What… What you say to more?” 

“Whatever do you mean?” 

“I’m talking about well,” Crowley huffed and half whistled as he struggled to communicate his ideas across, “you and I. Together. We’re on our own side after all.” 

“Yes, and so?” 

“And so. Let's continue, me and you, together. We’ll show each other new things and witness each other’s first times. Stuff like well, first time at arcades, movies, whatever new human invention, yada yada.” 

Aziraphale snorted a chuckle out.

“My dear boy. You don't have to ask.” 

Smiling, the angel’s blues eyes splashed with warmth by the amber gas lights softened. A look of love, longing, and desperation that had been stored for millennia. Crowley dumbfoundly gazed at those inviting ever loving eyes, he was overwhelmed by his emotions and bit back a smile. He then faced the long winding path ahead. Perhaps it was the sound of crickets chirping, the rush of water that played with the air, the evening birds singing their tune, or maybe, just maybe, it was the sound of Aziraphale's presence, matching Crowley’s pace for the first time. He thought back to the 1960s, the constant waft of hairspray and dirty road water. There in the brightly lit district of Soho London was the distinct memory of “You go too fast for me.” Something then suddenly felt free, lifted. They were going at their own pace now. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos, or comment and I will die for you. Also while you’re here, check out my pal Yj’s works. She’s p neat and her ineffable husband works are always fluffy. 
> 
> Also… if you wanna,, check out my Good Omens, Fallin’ like the stars. It’s composed of short stories to make an overarching epic.


End file.
